I know it's controversial but it has to be said. Chris Paul is better than James Harden

Who cares. I just want the Rockets to be better than the Warriors.

 

He plays more intelligent basketball.

 

Well...at least Paul should be our point guard when both of them are on the floor. Paul is obviously the better point guard.

 

Stop

 

Pretty much.

How about this? How great would it be if a year from now this thread is titled "I know it's controversial but it has to be said. Clint Capela is better than Chris Paul and James Harden."

I don't care at all that one Rocket player is better than another Rocket player. You guys have fun arguing over that though, just like those good old Brooks vs Lowry years....or even worse...Lin vs Harden...

 

Better Point Guard? Yeap. Better player? Hard to say.

But at the end its all about accolades. And if he does not win anything, in about 10 years from now, people will be saying steve nash is better than chris paul.... and he be remembered like john stockton. Good player but not great.

 

I don't know if he is better than James Harden, but now that he is a Rocket, I'm amazed at how good he is. I know that is weird saying that about a top 10 player, but his defense is better than I thought it was going to be and his passing, is amazing.

 

He's not better.

Much better decision maker under pressure for sure, but a better player? Absolutely not.

Amazes me that people can disregard what harden has done, which by the way, only a very select few can do in today's league let alone overall, in favour of two meaningless pre season games. Just crazy stuff.

We all know Paul is a beast, and I trust him far more with the ball in pressure situations, but to just outright say he's better, lol.

Why do we even have to have this conversation? We have BOTH of these guys on our team. Harden is going have a ludicrous game, and then Paul will have a crazy one, then harden will have another 50 point triple Double. Etc etc.

Harden is a top 5 SG all time if he wins a ring, Paul is right there too in the PG category if they pull it off.

 

I've pondered this quite a bit, homerism taking Hardens side... But its obvious they're totally comparable in skillset. Medicine is evolving and the era of Chris Paul and LeBron James are gonna see peaks and primes till the ages of 35+... And especially in this offense, Paul may be a star till hes 37/38. Harden too, I believe we wont see a significant dropoff in effectiveness until hes 35. This is gonna be an exciting duo and it may come out true that Paul is better.

 

My hypothesis is Harden will outshine Paul marginally throughout the entire regular season but once the playoffs come, Paul will take over as Alpha and dominate all corners of the game.

 

On our team Harden is the better scorer and Paul is the better all around player.

 

I would expect someone who's been a point guard his whole life, to be a better point guard than someone who has done it for one season.

I really am looking forward to end of game crunch time plays where Paul demands to have the ball in his hands. Cutting back on Harden's silly turnovers in these situations alone are going to make us a much, much better team.

 

Dan Tony's 7 men rotation is not going to cut it..... he will run some guys to the ground. He has to expand.

 

Based on what criteria? You seem awfully sure of your opinion.

 

One thing I can say: Paul is overall better than 2 time MVP Nash. He should have a monster year playing under D'Antoni. As it stands now, we'll likely finish with a confortable margin as the 2nd seed, given Spurs' health and Thunder's expected initial strugles.

The playoffs though... Paul, Harden and coach will all have to rewrite their history. Let's enjoy the great regular season that's about to come and wait to see who'll step up when it really matters, hoping the combination of the three is what've been missing for them to elevate their winning ways.

 

Harden is a much better rebounder and the effect he has in terms of manipulating the defense is second to none. As a bigger player it is also more difficult to defend him. Paul is a much better defender, so all around to me they are about the same with a slight edge to Harden. Harden is top 5 in my book, Paul top 10.

 

James Harden was objectively a top 5 player in the NBA last season and easily closer to #1 than #5. If Chris Paul's overall impact (offense + defense + leadership) is even near Harden's level, then we are talking about pairing up 2 of the top 5 or top 6 players in the NBA.

I don't think Paul was a clear top 5 player last season but I'm optimistic about what this system will do for Paul's game. He has dwelled on the ball a bit too much in the past, and has had to be the primary creator the majority of his career. He doesn't have to do that here in a system where Harden as creator works well the majority of the time. Paul is far better than Harden off the ball, whereas Harden is clearly at his best on the ball - I think that dynamic will matter a lot. I think Paul will take on a greater scoring role and put up incredible scoring numbers (career high I think) while bringing elite passing (fewer assists though) and excellent defense.

It is true that Paul's coaches have been pretty bad on the offensive side of the ball. I can see Paul feeling rejuvenated here.

I'm thinking:
25ppg (on damn near 50/40/90%), 7 assists and a repeat of his defense from last season (I think Harden still picks up 9 assists). If Chris Paul can bring that to the Rockets this season, he is going to be a candidate for MVP and we are going to be so damn good.

 

We are super deep this Year. I think

I don't think Paul is a 25ppg guy at the age of 32. i think he'll be around 21-22 with 8+ Assist. Harden will be around 28 with 8+ assists aswell

 

I think he will surprise us at age 32. He is going to shoot it 17-18 times a game imo.